Premiere at TheatreHD: On July 14, RSC: The Taming Of The Shrew will be shown for the first time in Minsk at the VOKA CINEMA by Silver Screen at 7 PM. A fresh perspective on Shakespeare’s work directed by Justin Audibert can be seen within the Theatre Club at the Silver Screen cinema. Within the project, the audience will enjoy a real theatre in the cinema, with the third bell, interval and bar. After the performance, everyone interested is invited to participate in the discussion. The new theatre project will be hosted by Angelika Krashevskaya, director of the centre ART Corporation and the International Theatre Forum TEART.
In the world of the new production of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre the Taming of the Shrew women are in charge, while men are typically regarded as submissive objects of beauty whose virtue is prized for a successful marriage. It is a gender-flipped RSC production in which sexual roles are reversed, therefore it becomes difficult to describe the outline of the comedy about a wayward and sharp-tongued girl who is brought up in the house of a canonically patriarchal man and finds harmony within a prescribed social role. The usually female roles are male characters, played by men, while the usually male roles are portrayed by women. The Director turns Shakespeare’s fierce, energetic comedy of gender and materialism on its head to offer a fresh perspective on the portrayal of hierarchy and power.
Despite the change, the performance will not intentionally take us to the modern times. The Director uses the atmosphere and luxury of Shakespeare’s times to exaggerate the wild conventionalities of the XVI century: in the world created by the Director the female actors are looking people directly in the eyes in a very bold way, and the male actors are given a hand-kiss. An inverted and eccentric story creates an indescribable effect: “What a nonsense! How can you treat men like this? What have they done to deserve this?!”- exclaims the indignant viewer. This is the exact feedback the creators of the play are waiting for.
The new project Theatre Club at the Silver Screen cinema will start with the premiere of RSC: The Taming of the Shrew. The Silver Screen Theatre Club is a place where the world’s best productions are shown, discussions are held, people get acquainted or just come for intellectual leisure. Three calls before the curtain time, original programmes and a cup of coffee during the intervals will create a truly theatrical atmosphere. After the viewing, the audience, along with invited guests from the theatre, will participate in the discussion and will have a chance to ask questions to the theatre experts.
Angelika Krashevskaya, the Club’s host and the director of the Centre for Visual and Performing Arts ART Corporation and the International Theatre Forum TEART, will take on the role of mediator between the production, the experts and the audience.
Follow the news of the project on the websites of the Silver Screen cinema and ART Corporation.